Dandelion is a perennial plant belonging to Family Asteraceae, and the dried entire plant called Taraxacum mongolicum is used as a drug in herbal medicine. Dandelion has been used in folk or herbal medicine for the purpose of anti-inflammation, stamina, fever release, dieresis, strengthening stomach, phlegm discharge, detoxication, and the like, even in western world, has been used as drugs for promoting bile secretion, anti-rheumatism, diuresis, and the like. Additionally, “Bencao Zhenyi” describes that dandelion has therapeutic effects for the treatment of heat toxin, reddish swelling, pus, and suppuration due to its cool property, and can be orally administered or used for external application. However, the effect of dandelion on prevention or improvement of male climacteric has not been studied. Rooibos is a conifer native to only highlands of Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, and has therapeutic effects of improving various kinds of skin diseases, allergy symptoms (treatment of various atopic dermatitis, and the like.), normalizing blood pressure, improvement of diabetes, constipation relief and regulation of intestinal regulation, anti-aging, mental stability, dieresis action, improvement of hepatic functions, antibacterial and germicidal actions, and the like. However, the effect of Rooibos on prevention or improvement of male climacteric has not been studied.
Female climacteric period refers to a transitional period appearing around the termination of menstruation of a female, and in particular, estrogen secretion does not occur naturally in fat cells thus causing estrogen deficient syndrome. As the estrogen level in the body decreases, pituitary gland produces more follicle stimulating hormone to stimulate ovaries, and most female climacteric symptoms are ascribed to the decrease of estrogen and the increase of follicle stimulating hormone. Female climacteric symptoms may include melancholy, sleep disturbance, bone and muscle pains, palpitation, sweating, facial flushing, amnesia, and the like.
Methods of treating these female climacteric state symptoms may include hormone therapy, estrogen cream, drug formulations, and the like, and the representative method may be the hormone therapy. However, hormone therapy was exhibited to increase breast cancer, stroke, heart attack, phlebothrombosis, cardiovascular diseases, and the like.
Male climacteric is a process that males may experience, such as overall physical and mental deterioration according to the aging of the body. The appearance of neurotic symptoms, anxiety disorder, depression, dizziness, facial flushing, sweating, sleep disturbance, hypotrophy, memory impairment, decrease of work performance ability, decrease of sexual desire, and the like, in male was designated as male climacteric (Werner A A. The male climacteric. J Am Med Assoc 1939; 112: 1441 to 1443). Male climacteric refers to a gradual deterioration in male characteristics, overall physical activities, and feelings influenced by decrease in male hormones. As in females, climacteric period also begins in men at their early 50s and more frequently occurs with the increase in age, accompanying symptoms such as deterioration in the functions of adrenal secretion, fertilizing capacity of sperms, Leydig cells, and decrease in the level of blood serum testosterone thereby expressing male climacteric symptoms. According to the International society for the study of the aging male (ISSAM), the decrease in male hormones lead to decrease in sexual desire, erectile dysfunction, depression accompanying melancholy and annoyance, memory deficit, decrease of the amount of overall fats, decrease of body hair, skin aging, decrease of bone density, increase of visceral fat, and the like (The Korean Association for Sexology; the 1st Educational Program for Sex Therapy for Doctors, November 2003). Since the main causes of male climacteric are known to be deterioration in endocrine system in addition to environmental factors, supplement of male hormones has been the major therapy for treating the male climacteric. The therapeutic methods of supplementing male hormones include oral formulations, formulations for skin application, patch formulations, injections, and the like.
However, the treatment of male climacteric disorder via male hormone therapy may increase the prostate gland to further increase the size of prostate cancer, or entail adverse reactions such as aggravation of sleep apnea, incidence of gynecomastia, polycythemia, increase of the risk of cardiovascular disease, and the like.
Furthermore, since the hormone therapy cannot be considered as a principal care of the main cause of climacteric disorders, keen attention should be paid to its prevention.
Accordingly, there is an urgent need for the development of a natural product-derived composition for the prevention and improvement of climacteric disorder, with few adverse reactions.